Creative Team
Co-Created by
PAOLA PRESTINI, RINDE ECKERT & JULIAN CROUCH
Composer
PAOLA PRESTINI
Writer & Performer
RINDE ECKERT
Director & Scenic design
JULIAN CROUCH
Conductor
DIANNE BERKUN-MENAKER
Scenic & Costume design
AMY RUBIN
Video & Lighting design
JOSHUA HIGGASON
Instruments made by
MARK STEWART
Associate Director
KATE HOPKINS
Featuring
BROOKLYN YOUTH CHORUS & ATTACCA QUARTET
PAOLA PRESTINI
RINDE ECKERT
JULIAN CROUCH
DIANNE BERKUN-MENAKER
About
A new music-theatre work, Aging Magician is a composite of sonic and visual elements that paints an allegory on time, youth, and the peculiar magic of ordinary life, and, perhaps, the ordinary magic of a peculiar life.
Accompanied by a string quartet and a choir of young people, Aging Magician moves us along with Harold from the surgical repair of a timepiece to the magic show of time itself, lives and deaths, appearances and disappearances. The man’s vibrant last adventure is brought to life by a team of multidisciplinary artists who combine music, theatre, puppetry, instrument making, and scenic design to create an enduring work for the stage.
Support
Aging Magician was commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects, VisionIntoArt, the Walker Art Center, and the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Developed with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, OPERA America Repertoire Development program, supported by The Opera Fund, the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, the New England Foundation for the Arts, and National Theater Project with lead funding from The Mellon Foundation. Residency support from Mass MoCA, the Park Avenue Armory, the PROTOTYPE Festival, and The Watermill Center Artist Residency Program. Additional performances have included Balboa Theater presented by San Diego Opera.
![The West Coast premiere of TRADE/MARY MOTORHEAD marked another successful addition to the rich legacy of collaborative efforts between Beth Morrison Projects and LA Opera (@laopera)! We're looking back at some of our favorite productions over the years to celebrate!
DOG DAYS - DOG DAYS marked the first production of the whirlwind partnership in 2015. Hailed by the New York Times as a riveting, soon-to-be “groundbreaking American classic,” the post-apocalyptic tragedy made waves at its LAO presentation and put BMP on the West Coast map.
P R I S M - P R I S M marked another milestone in our joint history. Not only did Ellen Reid’s (@ellenreidmusic) debut opera make its world premiere with LA Opera at REDCAT (@calartsredcat), but this collaborative project would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2019. It was a major development for BMP, LAO, and, of course, Ellen Reid, who “[took] her place among the host of promising young American opera composers” (The Financial Times).
ANGEL'S BONE - Another Pulitzer Prize-winning BMP production, ANGEL'S BONE, was planned as part of the 2020 season. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the presentation pivoted, becoming the first in our history to be presented digitally. The show was streamed by 20,000 people, demonstrating the strength and resilience of our bond with LAO.
TRADE/MARY MOTORHEAD - Finally, Emma O’Halloran’s (@emmamohalloran) TRADE/Mary Motorhead made its West Coast premiere last month at REDCAT. We're thrilled to celebrate another year of BMP and LAO sharing boundary-pushing, cutting-edge opera with this incredible production starring Naomi Louisa O’Connell (@naomi_louisa_oconnell), Marc Kudisch (@marckudisch), and Kyle Bielfield (@bielfield)!](https://bethmorrisonprojects.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)